CPE CPE Ethics in Healthcare Leadership 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A physician executive on the hospital board is also a part-owner of an imaging center that the hospital is considering contracting with. What is the FIRST required action?
- Negotiate the best contract terms for the hospital
- Disclose the conflict of interest and recuse from the decision (Correct answer)
- Vote in favor since physician ownership is legal under Stark Law exceptions
- Resign from the board immediately
Correct answer: Disclose the conflict of interest and recuse from the decision
Disclosing the conflict of interest and recusing from the contracting decision is ethically required and protects both the physician executive and the organization from legal liability.
Question 2: Which bioethical principle requires physician executives to ensure organizational policies do not harm patients through cost-cutting measures?
- Autonomy
- Justice
- Nonmaleficence (Correct answer)
- Beneficence
Correct answer: Nonmaleficence
Nonmaleficence — the obligation to 'do no harm' — requires physician executives to evaluate whether resource and policy decisions could cause patient harm.
Question 3: When a physician executive is pressured by the CEO to suppress a quality improvement report showing high complication rates, the ethical obligation is to:
- Comply to maintain organizational loyalty
- Delay release until rates improve
- Ensure transparent disclosure to the board and relevant oversight bodies (Correct answer)
- Share only with the implicated department privately
Correct answer: Ensure transparent disclosure to the board and relevant oversight bodies
Physician executives have an ethical and professional obligation to ensure quality and safety data reaches appropriate governance and oversight bodies, even under organizational pressure.
Question 4: The ethical principle of justice, as applied by a physician executive in resource allocation, BEST means:
- Giving all patients identical treatment regardless of clinical need
- Distributing healthcare resources fairly with attention to equity and need (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing profitable service lines over unprofitable ones
- Ensuring legal compliance in all contracting decisions
Correct answer: Distributing healthcare resources fairly with attention to equity and need
Justice in healthcare resource allocation requires fair distribution that considers clinical need, population equity, and reducing disparities rather than purely financial factors.
Question 5: A physician executive learns that a colleague is impaired by substance use and still practicing clinically. What is the MOST ethically appropriate response?
- Speak privately with the colleague and hope they self-report
- Report the concern through the appropriate peer review or physician health program process (Correct answer)
- Avoid involvement since it's not in the executive's clinical jurisdiction
- Wait for a sentinel event before taking action
Correct answer: Report the concern through the appropriate peer review or physician health program process
Reporting through the peer review or physician health program process is the ethically and legally appropriate channel that protects both patients and supports the impaired physician.
Question 6: Which American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) core competency domain specifically addresses the ethical obligations of the physician executive role?
- Financial performance management
- Professionalism and ethics (Correct answer)
- Clinical quality metrics
- Regulatory compliance reporting
Correct answer: Professionalism and ethics
Professionalism and ethics is a core ACPE competency domain that covers the unique ethical obligations physician executives face at the intersection of medicine and management.
CPE CPE Ethics in Healthcare Leadership 1
A physician executive on the hospital board is also a part-owner of an imaging center that the hospital is considering contracting with.
What is the FIRST required action?